President Donald Trump pledged to “permanently pause migration” from what he called “poorer nations” in a strongly-worded social media post on Thanksgiving night.
The comments came in the wake of a shooting on Wednesday that wounded two National Guard members patrolling Washington, D.C., one of whom later died.
A 29-year-old Afghan national who reportedly worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War has been charged in connection with the incident.
In his post on the Truth Social platform, Trump claimed that “most” immigrants to the United States “are on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels.”
Earlier on Thanksgiving, Trump spoke to U.S. troops by video, just hours before the National Guard member succumbed to injuries sustained in the shooting.
The President had ordered the deployment of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital.
Immigration has been a central focus of Trump’s presidency, with his administration implementing policies to restrict both legal and illegal immigration.
Critics argue these measures are driven by anti-immigrant sentiment, while supporters say they are necessary for national security and economic reasons.
